HESS, H[ieronymus] — Galerie Musicale

Paris: Publiée par Engelmann & Cie. 1827. Twelve Exceptionally Rare and Satirical Hand Colored Lithographs Showing Musicians Performing HESS, H[ieronymus]. Galerie Musicale par H. Hess. Paris: Publiée par Engelmann & Cie. [1827]. First (and only) edition. Quarto (10 7/8 x 8 1/2 inches; 276 x 216 mm.). Twelve (of thirteen) satirical hand colored lithograph plates without titles, showing musicians performing. Drawn by Käppelin d'après H. Hess and lithographed by Engelmann & Cie. The missing plate is number eleven. Recently bound by Roger Devauchelle in full violet cloth, printed paper label on front board. Publishers brown printed wrapper/title bound in before the plates. The Plates: 1. [The Conductor] 2. [The Violin] 3. [The Oboe] 4. [The Bassoon] 5. [The French Horn] 6. [The Tenor Trombone] 7. [The Clarinet] 8. [The Flute] 9. [The Bass Trombone] 10. [The Fiddle] 11. 12. [Man playing the Guitar] 13. [Woman playing the Guitar] Hieronymus HESS (1799-1850) was a Swiss draftsman and painter during the first half of the 19th century. He is best known for his time-critical cartoons and templates for Zizenhauser terracotta. His high quality, romantically inspired drawings, watercolors, prints and paintings depict genre scenes, histories, allegories, portraits and caricatures of political, anticlerical and social content. In the latter, Hess' disillusionment broke out over the artistically less open-minded Basler Gesellschaft. His works have historical significance as pictorial documents of the period of restoration and regeneration in Basel. We have only been able to locate one other example in libraries and institutions worldwide - The British Museum (London, UK). Lucien Monod. Le Prix des Estampes, Vol III, p.81 (13 plates). .